Club Brugge look to follow Braga lead

Club Brugge KV will confirm a UEFA Europa League round of 32 place if they avoid defeat against SC Braga, whose competition future is secure. • A draw or a Club Brugge win would send both teams through; however, should the Belgian side lose while Birmingham City FC win at home against NK Maribor, Club Brugge would miss out as a result of their inferior head-to-head record against the English League Cup winners. Previous meetings • An added-time header from Ryan Donk secured a comeback victory for Club Brugge when the sides met in Portugal on matchday two. Hélder Barbosa\'s third goal in two European games gave the hosts a 53rd-minute lead, but Joseph Akpala (71) profited from a mix-up to prod in the first goal Braga had conceded at home in Europe in eight matches. • Club Brugge\'s five games against Portuguese sides ended W3 D0 L2 (W2 D0 L0 at home). They scored three times in their two previous home games against Portuguese opponents. • In Braga\'s only previous experience of Belgian opponents they overcame R. Standard de Liège in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup round of 32, winning 3-0 at home then drawing 1-1 in Belgium. They were eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain FC in the next round. Match background • Club Brugge came from 3-0 down to win 4-3 at NK Maribor on matchday five in the highest-scoring game of this season\'s group stage. • Club Brugge won their first three European home games this season but lost 2-1 against Birmingham on matchday three. • Braga are unbeaten in three away games this season – a win and two draws. Team facts • Braga have conceded 97 goals in UEFA competition; this will be their 87th game. • Club Brugge defender Pietro Perdichizzi celebrates his 18th birthday the day after this game; the Belgian Under-19 international has yet to make his UEFA competition debut. • Anderlecht\'s Matías Suárez remains the group stage\'s top scorer with six goals, ahead of Fulham FC\'s Andrew Johnson on five. Six other players have scored four goals: Dmitri Sychev (FC Lokomotiv Moskva) Joseph Akpala (Club Brugge KV) Guillaume Gillet (RSC Anderlecht) Dalibor Volaš (NK Maribor) Miroslav Radovi? (Legia Warszawa) Toto Tamuz (Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC) • Braga\'s Hugo Viana faced Club Brugge with Valencia CF on 4 December 2008 in a UEFA Cup game, which ended 1-1 at Mestalla. • Braga\'s Nuno Gomes has already met Belgian opponents while playing for SL Benfica in the UEFA Cup, his side winning 1-0 at home against RAA Lovièroise on 15 October 2003. • Club Brugge dismissed coach Adrie Kosteron 30 October after four straight defeats in all competitions. The Dutchman had been in charge since April 2009. The 56-year-old\'s assistant Rudi Verkempinck and reserve-team coach Philippe Clement were placed in temporary charge for matchday five. • Christoph Daum was named as Club Brugge\'s new coach on 9 November 2011. The German has won domestic titles with VfB Stuttgart, Be?ikta? JK, FK Austria Wien and Fenerbahçe SK and had been out of work since leaving Eintracht Frankfurt in May 2011, having been unable to stave off relegation. • Daum also spent four years as Bayer 04 Leverkusen coach (1996-2000) and led the German club to three European victories against Braga\'s Liga rivals Sporting Clube de Portugal, but lost both of his games against FC Porto while at Austria Wien. • Leonardo Jardim is in charge at Braga having replaced Sporting Clube de Portugal-bound Domingos Paciência in the summer. The Venezuelan-born coach was in charge at AD Camacha, GD Chaves and SC Beira-Mar before joining Braga. Related Items